The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C31
$31
Halo might also participate in a one-time dungeon raid if offered a large sum. Of course, only if there was something to pique his interest.
“Then are we planning to hire a hunter with precognition abilities?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
At that moment, a blonde man entered the conference room, speaking fluent Korean. His attitude suggested he had grasped the entire conversation, despite the soundproof nature of the room.
“Halo?”
“Is Halo really participating in our project?”
The room quickly became noisy, as his picky nature was already well-known.
“Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”
Halo strode across the conference room and offered a handshake to me first.
He must have some language-related skill. Perhaps a skill developed to easily convey prophecies?
While thinking this internally, I shook Halo’s outstretched hand.
“I’m Baek Woo-hyun, the Vice Guild Master.”
I thought he would immediately turn to Seo-heon after I introduced myself as the Vice Guild Master, but surprisingly, Halo held onto my hand tightly without letting go.
“Do you have something to say…?”
“You have a sad future.”
He spoke quietly, just enough for only the two of us to hear.
“I like people like that.”
His voice, sweet as honey, carried a faint trace of kindness.
“You’re quite rude.”
Halo’s amber eyes were fixated on me persistently. Considering he was a prophet, it was reasonable to assume he had read my future.
Does a sad future mean he saw me dying?
But all humans die eventually. Even at this moment, countless people are dying in dungeons, so there was no need for Halo to point it out specifically.
“I’m sorry. You’re more handsome than I heard, so I tried to flirt a bit.”
Halo finally released my hand normally. The guild members became somewhat rowdy due to Halo’s unpredictable and glib nature. It wasn’t surprising that there was a commotion, given that this prophet, known for being extremely picky about accepting jobs, was not only far more handsome than his photos suggested but also somewhat enigmatic.
“Thank you for the compliment, but as this is a meeting time, I’d appreciate it if you could approach this seriously.”
“I was being serious, I’m hurt.”
Contrary to his words, Halo was a man in whom it was difficult to find any trace of seriousness. Outwardly, he seemed more impulsive than driven by meticulous calculations.
This is troublesome.
In my experience, people like this tend to be driven more by their own interests and curiosity than by values that ordinary people desire. It would be a challenge to coordinate with someone whose actions were so difficult to predict in battle.
“Let me rephrase. Please refrain from personal conversations in this setting.”
“Then let’s meet in a better place.”
No sooner had Halo finished speaking than a loud ‘thud’ was heard. It was the sound of a hand hitting the desk, a noise that would have shattered the desk if it hadn’t been made with hunters’ vigorous strength in mind.
“Our Ihwa Guild also welcomes you, Mr. Halo. You’ve given us your precious time, so we shouldn’t waste it on irrelevant matters. Please take a seat.”
Seo-heon greeted Halo with a brazen attitude, as if he hadn’t just made that loud noise. Like me, Seo-heon disliked people who moved differently from his expectations. However, unlike me who just felt uncomfortable and left it at that, he read the person’s personality and the direction of their impulses to draw up a more detailed blueprint.
But it seemed difficult for him to perfectly grasp Halo, about whom he had little information. A hint of annoyance was visible in the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve never used it on irrelevant matters, but it’s not a difficult task, so I’ll do as you say.”
Coincidentally, Halo’s seat was across from mine. Although there was some distance, it was impossible to avoid his piercing gaze. Ihan, sitting next to him, seemed to be saying something to Halo, but I couldn’t hear it due to the distance and his lowered voice.
“Please continue with the presentation.”
Seo-heon urged Ms. Mi-yeon while tapping his fingers on the desk. While Ms. Mi-yeon probably knew Halo would arrive today, it seemed this was her first time seeing his face up close, as she had been lost in thought before quickly regaining her composure.
“Yes, I’ll resume. As you can see, precognition skills play a crucial role in battles against Hetchlings. This is why we’ve brought Mr. Halo on board. First, I’ll show you a battle scene utilizing precognition skills.”
A battle scene from Rocinante played on the screen.
“Here, this person retreating to the back with the healers is using the precognition skill. Next to them, a hunter primarily using telepathy is transmitting the foreseen content as images.”
With this explanation, I noticed Rocinante’s guild master giving loud instructions from the frontlines at intervals. He was receiving the transmitted images and immediately issuing orders optimized for the situation. In battle, while individual combat power is important, teamwork between members is most crucial. In fact, Rocinante’s combat power wasn’t particularly high compared to Ihwa’s.
“Yes. As you can see, strategy is more important in this raid than brute force. Therefore, the personnel arrangement will be planned accordingly. Hunters below B-rank will be excluded from the raid unless they have special abilities.”
It was a reasonable judgment. Deploying too many people in such a battle would only result in disorganization.
“The total number of participants in this raid will be 9. Individual contacts will be made after today’s meeting, and those who are unable to participate due to special reasons should contact me directly.”
The neat presentation concluded.
“Let’s take questions if there are any.”
Seo-heon had a knack for being intimidating even while using polite speech. After some hesitation, one team leader raised their hand with difficulty.
“Isn’t 9 people too few, no matter how you look at it?”
“Even for an S-rank dungeon, excluding the boss room, a small number of hunters is sufficient. In fact, in a battle with Hetchlings, even one person who responds slowly to unexpected situations can become a hindrance.”
The team leader who had asked the question lowered their hand, seeming somewhat deflated.
“When will we practice coordination with Mr. Halo? We don’t have much experience fighting alongside hunters with precognition skills.”
“Once the formation is decided, we plan to request an appropriate A-rank dungeon raid permit.”
Ihwa could obtain an A-rank dungeon permit anytime. Seo-heon seemed to have judged that combat training or image training alone would be insufficient.
“May I ask a question too?”
Halo raised his hand nonchalantly.
“Go ahead.”
“Will Woo-hyun also participate in the raid?”
“Well, why don’t you prophesy that yourself?”
Seo-heon wore an annoying expression that seemed to say he had told Halo to ask questions, not that he would answer them. Halo raised an eyebrow and then smirked.
“I see a scene where you’re begging and clinging to me.”
“Blurting out predictions about an unseen future, your qualifications as a prophet are questionable.”
Everyone seemed to be getting tired one by one of their mind games. I didn’t know why they were acting like this, but they didn’t seem to get along from the start. However, there was no need to show everyone that these two key figures for the upcoming raid were at odds from the beginning.
“Guild Master, let’s finish the meeting and talk afterwards.”
Recognizing that I was trying to wrap up the situation, Seo-heon nodded.
“Our staff will guide you to your accommodation and provide contact information. We’ll also give you a guild-exclusive device for your use, so please contact us through that if you have any questions.”
“I’ll do that.”
The brief meeting concluded. Everyone returned to their positions according to their schedules, and Halo followed the guiding staff while glancing in my direction. Ihan seemed curious about what Halo had said to me, but seeing me hurriedly tidy up my place, he quietly left. He seemed to understand that I didn’t want to talk more today.
The meeting ended at five o’clock. My steps towards the dormitory became increasingly hurried, eventually almost running. According to what I had checked this morning, the seal had faded considerably but wasn’t completely gone yet.
I couldn’t risk letting others see something unsightly if I let my guard down.
I had blindly researched the noble succubus’s poison, but there was no cure other than injecting life force. As Seo-heon had said, the antidote was difficult to obtain, and manufacturing it took even longer.
“It means they don’t feel the need to supply it because encounters with noble succubi are rare, and it’s too late after being poisoned anyway.”
The hard-to-find information was somewhat verbose, but to summarize it simply: ‘Since it’s a poison that subsides quickly after just one sexual encounter, there’s no need to go through the trouble of obtaining a difficult medicine.’
For those who aren’t averse to sexual activity or have a partner, it might just end up being a slightly troublesome event, so that could be true.
“The problem is that I’m not like that.”
And to think that I’d keep seeking out that person after detoxifying by using someone who has a partner… There was no excuse for this.
So the method I chose was to take sleeping pills so that even if I succumbed to the poison, I wouldn’t be able to go to Seo-heon.